Admissibility of Statements made to Police

Admissibility of Statements made to Police

Only statements made to police that are proven to be voluntarily given will be admissible as evidence against an accused person at trial. If a statement is obtained as a result of a promise or threat made by a person in authority (such as a police officer), it will not be permitted to be used in evidence. As you will see in the cases below, the failure of the police to record their interrogation techniques may result in the inadmissibility of an important statement for the Crown's case. ***Click on the case name in order to read the full judgment***

R v. S [2006] - A video statement tendered by the Crown to prove S had knowledge of a gun hidden in the basement of his residence was excluded from evidence based on the fact that the statement was obtained as a result of police threats to arrest the accused's entire family if he didn't confess to knowledge of the gun. Without the video statement, the Crown had no other evidence to prove Mr. Sappleton had knowledge of the gun and the case was subsequently dismissed.

R v. B [2003] - Statements made by Mr. B to Police regarding his involvement in a robbery were ruled inadmissible due to the failure of police to record the interrogation on video or properly advise B of his right to speak with a lawyer prior to making a statement to police.

R v. L [2002] - Statements made by Mr. Lodge to police in which he admits his involvement in an armed robbery were ruled inadmissible due to the failure of police to properly record the interrogation on video.